From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
A seven-year-old boy, Master Emmanuel Ezaka, who lost his parents and his right leg in a road accident, was on December 5, 2021, given scholarship by the parish priest of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Onuebonyi, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Rev. Fr. Abraham Nwali.
Succour came the way of the poor boy, who lost his parents in 2020, during the 2021 annual thanksgiving and bazaar of the parish. Nwali said he was excited in the sense that the particular event was his first bazaar in the parish and, as God would have it, the programme was unique because the boy was not only given scholarship but would be provided with a prosthetic (artificial leg).
“While I was talking, the Lord graciously directed me to provide the boy with an artificial leg before December 25, 2021, and, by next week, we will contact an American company so that the leg will be replaced and, additionally, I have offered scholarship, as long as his intellect will carry.
“His Excellency has equally given some money for his upkeep. For me, the boy is a child of destiny and I believe that he will surely rewrite his story,” he said.
The priest, who is also the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ebonyi State chapter, and Special Adviser to Ebonyi State Governor on Religious and Welfare Matters, equally cited a case of another child simply identified as Obinna, who lost his hand to a matchet cut around 2005.
Nwali said he had trained the same boy in primary and secondary school before establishing him as a patent medicine dealer even without knowing the boy’s parents in the past 11 years.
He said: “I always see in these kind of people an invitation to change life. Thus, I really appreciate everyone and, more importantly, His Excellency, the state governor and his disciples of leadership.”
Ebonyi State Governor, David Nweze Umahi, represented by his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, described Nwali as a priest that is beyond description in the sense that he means different things to different people.
“Some people call him by his priestly name, Reverend Father, and some call him an academic, while those who do not understand life and time regard him as a politician.
“But one thing the people should know is that Jesus Christ is the highest politician because He is the only man who was able to convert the whole world into his political party.
“I will also remind the people that God had already given us the power to dominate every environment, to always serve as the head, not the tail, and in order to be the head, the person must be a leader.
“Based on this fact, one must be a politician to be able to convince his people over his manifestos because even Christ came with his manifesto, which the world was convinced with and the people believed him.
“But, surprisingly, those who do not understand the period which we are into only capitalise on the deceitful nature of some persons and hurriedly generalise that every politician is the same.
“No, that is wrong because genuine politicians do go with their clear manifestos,” he explained.
He commended the priest for his posting to the hinterland, where, through his ingenuity, he would affect more lives positively, and also pledged that his government would remain supportive to him at all times.
“Father, we thank God that you are here to prove your ministry once more, since your calling is characterized with patience, long-suffering and perseverance,” he said.
Emmanuel’s guardian, Otubo Anayochukwu, who narrated the young boy’s ordeal, said his parents, Friday Ezaka and Mrs. Blessing Ezaka, died in a ghastly accident on April 28, 2020, as they were returning to their Onueke base from their hometown, Umuome, Oriuzor, in Ezza North LGA. Little Emmanuel survived the accident but lost his leg in the process.
According to Anayochukwu, after the victims had seen their aged grandmother, Nwankwo Ezaka, and started heading to their place of abode on a motorcycle, unexpectedly, a tipper driver moving recklessly rammed into them and killed the couple on the spot.
Anayochukwu, who is cousin to the deceased Ezaka, stated that Emmanuel was second to the last of the four children left behind by the couple. Having seen the predicament of the bereaved children, he brought them to his house to join his own four children.
Daily Sun gathered that Anayochukwu, who also uses prosthetic, having also lost his left leg in an auto crash in Lagos State in 2016, is taking care of theorphaned children alongside his family through the production and sale of polythene bags.
The physically challenged man who earns a living producing poly bags through locally fabricated machine, has, therefore, appealed for assistance from all angles to enable him cater for the combined families.
Chairman, Joint Association of People Living With Disabilities (JONAPWD), Ezza North LGA branch, Moses Nwafor, told Daily Sun that the little boy was introduced to their union during the recently observed International Disability Day and the members, having heard and seen the pathetic condition of the young amputee, brought him to the annual harvest and thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Parish, where fortune smiled on him by way of the lifeline the priest and other government officials offered.
Nwafor further appreciated the efforts of those who had, one way or another, helped the orphan, while advising his association’s members to always live within their means.